Special Classes

Below is a list of other classes given by IAAI International or by another entity and listed here under an agreement with IAAI. New classes will appear as they are scheduled.

Commercial Kitchen Fires: A Practical Approach to Systems Design, Evaluation, & Documentation with an Eye Toward Claims & Litigation

Basic Presentation Topic Overview:

I. Introduction to Commercial Kitchen Systems Design
II. Investigative Disciplines & Methodology
III. Commercial Fire Suppression, Hood, Duct, Exhaust, & Ventilation Systems Documentation & Evaluation
IV. The Cast of Characters & Recurring Themes
V. Employee Vetting, Selection, & Training
VI. Qualifications, Certification, & Competency
VII. The Service Professional-Customer Relationship
VIII. Industry Standards, Recommended Guidelines, & Best Practices
IX. Service Visit Documentation
X. Drawing the Line with Collateral Hazards
XI. Loss Notifications & Demands
XII. Spoliation
XIII. The Team Approach for Commercial Kitchen Fire Investigations
XIV. Expert Challenges

Basic Presentation Description: As a public or private sector fire and explosion investigation professional, how confident are you that you have the appropriate knowledge and training to document and evaluate the role the commercial kitchen ventilation system (“CKV”) and preengineered commercial fire suppression systems (“FSS”) play in the underlying forensic fire scene origin and cause investigation? Each year, the number of commercial restaurant fires and exposures continue to climb, along with the number of claims and lawsuits advanced against commercial fire suppression, hood, duct, and exhaust system service professionals, franchisees, contractors, subcontractors, product designers, manufacturers, owners, and operators of all types and sizes. Frontline public and private sector fire and explosion investigation professionals alike are assigned to perform forensic investigations of first-party and liability losses where CKV and FSS systems are implicated. Commercial restaurants have CKV and FSS systems. While these separate and distinct systems are designed to prevent the spread of a fire, albeit through very distinct means, CKV and FSS systems present unique challenges for investigation professionals. Enhance your expertise in forensic commercial kitchen fire investigations with hands-on regional course of instruction hosted by International Association of Arson Investigators, Inc. (“IAAI”) and Eastern Kentucky University’s (“EKU”) Fire & Safety Engineering Technology at its Ashland Fire & Safety Laboratory, Inc. Taught by industry practitioners, subject matter experts, industry specialists, and technically trained counsel, this interactive classroom and applied learning course will provide public and private sector fire investigation professionals with an overview of the best proactive practices to evaluate and document the role of the CKC and FSS systems and components in an incident. Attendees will achieve a greater understanding for common terminology utilized in commercial kitchen fires, how CKV and FSS systems and components operate in a commercial kitchen, the basic investigative and documentation methodology, and application of the industry standards, recommended guidelines, and best practices to the CKV and FSS systems and components in the forensic investigation.

Fire Fatalities Investigation Training

Dr. Elayne Pope, Ph. D is a Forensic Anthropologist who researches how the human body burns with applications to fatal fire casework. She received her doctorate from the University of Arkansas in 2007 for “The Effects of Fire on Human Remains.” Dr. Pope has been a researcher and instructor for the San Luis Obispo Fire Investigation Strike Team (SLO FIST) Fatal Fire Death Investigation Course since 2008 where human cadavers are utilized to recreate fatal fire scenes using structures, vehicles, and outdoor fire environments. Dr. Pope specializes in the analysis of traumatic injury and its implications for fatal fire investigations along with examining burn patterns of individual casework. Her training courses examine how the human body is an important type of physical evidence from fatal fire scenes and the value of evidence preservation for fatal fire casework.

The Fatal Fire Investigation Training Course is a scientific approach to how the human body burns in different types of fire scenes (structures, vehicles, confined space, and outdoors) for Law Enforcement, Fire Investigators, and Medicolegal Investigators. Training is derived from over a decade of experimental burn research with human cadavers in a variety of fire environments that are routinely encountered in forensic casework. The heat-related changes of the human body (burn damage and pugilistic positioning) are presented along with the types of physical evidence that survives for investigators at the fatal fire scene.

Fatal Fire Investigation Training Course Topics:

• Introduction to normal burn patterns and heat related changes of the body during a fire.

• Normal heat-related changes for the arms, legs, torso, and head (natural stages of burning to full cremation) and their appearance/condition after the fire.

• Heat-related changes of preexisting traumatic injury from gunshot wounds, blunt force trauma, and sharp force trauma in burned human remains.

• Experimental case examples of vehicle fires, structure fires, outdoor fires, the use of ignitable liquids, and criminal attempts to destroy physical evidence of the body.

• Effects of suppression, post-fire changes to the body, and problems with improper handling of fragile burned human remains/evidence from the scene.

• Fatal fire scene documentation, evidence handling, the autopsy, and methods of victim identification from bodies that were ‘burned beyond recognition’.

There are no classes scheduled at this time for Fire Fatalities Investigation Training.

Fire Investigation Safety Officer Training

Whether as a dedicated position at a post-fire investigation or an additional assigned role, this advanced-level fire investigator training course will prepare experienced fire investigators to serve as a safety officer/manager/supervisor at a large or complex fire investigation. The course material includes the latest safety information from a wide variety of sources and incorporates relevant FEMA ICS Safety Officer information.

Fire Investigation Safety Officer Training Course Topics:

• The Role of the Fire Investigation Safety Officer: Before, During, and After the Investigation

• Hazards and Risk

• An Overview of Post-fire Scene Health Hazards

• Building Systems and Construction

• Safety Hazards, Prevention Methods, and Procedures

• Responding to Damaged Structures

• Post-incident Responsibilities

• There will be a final group activity where a written safety assessment is prepared, and an oral presentation made

Prerequisites:

• At least three years of fire scene exam experience and have successfully completed

• A basic fire investigation course of at least 40 tested hours

• CFITrainer.net required modules

  • Electrical Safety

  • Fundamentals of Residential Building Construction

  • Fire Investigator Scene Safety

  • Site Safety Assessment

• NIMS/ICS 100, 200 and one of the following: 300, 400, 700, 800. Some of these can be taken online at https://training.fema.gov/nims/

• Hazmat technician or similar HAZWOPER training is recommended

Students must bring a laptop, tablet, etc. for coursework.

Photovoltaic Systems Investigation Training

The Photovoltaic Systems in person training program is intended to give participants a fundamental knowledge and understanding of the electrical aspects of photovoltaic systems, commonly referred to as Solar Power Generation Systems.

This program will include a brief history of photovoltaic cells and systems and discuss how photovoltaic power contributes to the electric grid. The program will include a review of the fundamentals of electricity and discuss how they are applied within a solar array. The various components of a photovoltaic system will be presented and the interaction of the various components in a cell, module, and array will be explained as it relates the power generating function of the overall photovoltaic system. Safety protocols relevant to the investigation of fires involving photovoltaic systems will be introduced, and common failures in these systems will also be identified. Case studies will be utilized as appropriate to illustrate the practical application of the information presented in this course.

At the end of this program, the participant should be able to:

• Describe the general use of photovoltaics

• Explain solar radiation and its relationship to photovoltaics

• Explain basic electricity

• Explain sources and diodes

• Review and explain residential and light commercial electrical services

• Explain photovoltaic cells, modules, and arrays, including the equivalent circuit of a photovoltaic cell

• Explain shading and its effect on photovoltaic systems

• Discuss energy storage in photovoltaic systems

• Explain the photovoltaic balance of system components

• Discuss the National Electrical Code as it relates to photovoltaics

• Explain electrical hazards in photovoltaic cells and systems

• Discuss potential failure modes in photovoltaic cells and systems.

• Discuss standards organizations that generate standards applicable to photovoltaics

Pre-Requisites Photovoltaic Systems

• CFITrainer.Net Modules

  • Basic Electric

  • Residential Electric Systems

  • Electrical Safety

  • Lithium-Ion Battery Fires

  • Photovoltaic Cells and Systems

  • Site Safety Assessment

There are no classes scheduled at this time for Photovoltaic Systems Investigation Training.